Two killers of 11-year-old schoolboy Dean Pike have been jailed for life.

Dean's badly burned body was found by firefighters on the upstairs landing of his home which no longer had stairs due to the intense heat.

A fire officer who attended the scene said it was one of the worst house fires he had seen in 21 years' service.

The football-loving youngster's heavily pregnant mother Janine Dodd, 30, was blown from an upstairs window but survived and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Terry Majinusz and Neil English were jailed for life for Dean's murder by Judge John Milford at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday. He told them: "The occupants never had a chance. The only sentences I can pass on you is life imprisonment."

For murder and GBH with intent, he imposed on English two life sentences. He will not be considered for parole for 24 years. Majinusz, who, the judge said, had an IQ of just 81, was jailed for life for murder and for eight years for GBH with intent, to run concurrent. He will not be considered for parole for 21 years.

Judge Milford told them they will be on license for the rest of their lives. If they breach it, they could go back to prison.

The court had heard how Dean's body had been partially cremated by the intensity of the blaze.

His single-mum's two bedroom terraced house in Mordey Close, Deerness Park, Hendon, Sunderland, was set alight by English, 43, and Majinusz, 40, using lighter fluid.

It was mistakenly targeted by the pair who were looking for relatives of Majinusz's 18-year-old girlfriend.

He was angry because her family disapproved of their relationship due to their age gap. Majinusz and English, both of Chester Road, Sunderland, denied murder but were found guilty. They were also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to Janine but cleared of attempted murder.

Trevor Gordon, 22, of Redmond Road, Sunderland, also accused of the murder and attempted murder, was cleared.

English already has a previous conviction for arson after he set alight an ex-girlfriend's home.

Afterwards Dean's mum Janine said: "He never had the chance to grow up, to develop into a man. He's missed out on all the firsts: first girlfriend, first pint. He was just a child."